RWBY Dust & Sand
by Zerosaviour
Summary: Let me tell you a story. Of a kingdom lost. How an unexpected encounter leads the girls of team RWBY down the path of rediscovery and deceit. As their modern fantasy tale clashes with a kingdom of steampunk. This is Dust & Sand. (IC EU)
1. Chapter 1

_Dust to dust; that how it shall end,_

 _One final embrace my dearest friend,_

 _Our bodies now ashes across the sand,_

 _The lost dream to cure desolate land,_

 _Final words before we meet again,_

 _Adieu Adieu Adieu; Now all players take your final bow_

Dust & Sand - Epilogue

Chapter 1: Perfect Day

The vibrant yellow sun shone high above the Vale skyline with a warm gentle breeze blowing from the southwest. To Blake Belladonna, the fair skinned faunus, this marked a perfect day. She lay stretched out under the shade of a big tree in the Vale park; with her new favorite book spread open on her lap.

 _Dust & Sand_ had become her favorite book ever since it was found on one of her teams recent adventures to the library. It was a book of poems and short stories telling the sad tale of the rise and fall of the last great faunus empire; Babylon.

Her day dreams as of late has been her being able to see such a grand and illustrious empire for herself. To see the faunus race stand tall and united instead of scattered and destitute. Oh to see it with her own eyes would be a dream come true.

Her fingers scrolled across the last page of the book before closing it and embracing it against her chest tightly. A flight of fancy was good every once and awhile for a huntress but it was a trap to always rely on daydreams.

" What ya got there, chickenbutt?" The familiar voice caught her off guard and broke her daydream. Her eyes drifted up towards a bare chested teenage boy with a pile of unrulely sandy blonde hair. The boy was a monkey tailed faunus by the name of Sun Wukong; who should of been back in Mistral.

" Oh um, Sun. I um didn't know that you were back in Vale." Blake stood up and dusted herself off; trying to look some what presentable to the boy she quite fancied. " If I knew you were coming I would of set something up for us to do."

" He didn't know that we were going to end up being here." Another familiar voice came from behind Sun. He walked right next to Sun and straightened his goggles a bit.

" Neptune, you're here too!" Neptune stood next to his teammate and gave Blake his signature cool smile.

" We were asked by the Mistral and Vale governments to be added security for an upcoming faunus empire exhibit thats opening today at the Vale museum." Neptune slid a gloved hand through his blue hair. " Seriously, Sun wouldn't stop talking about all the ancient weapons that are part of the exhibit."

Blake looked almost dumbfounded at the two boys. After spending day after day reading the same book over and over again; to actually be able to see real pieces of the ancient civilization would be a dream.

" Cmon Neptune, there is more to the exhibit that I like besides the weapons. They were the most advanced race during the second age of man." Sun looked at his human teammate and tried to plead his case towards his love of the exhibit.

Blake just looked at them and smiled as the two friends and teammates went back and forth with their arguement about Suns' latest passion. The young man; reckless and carefree in his actions; burned a flame inside of Blake that she thought she lost years ago when she left the White Fang. If it wasn't for her more hesitant and worried personality; she would of already let her feelings be known to the boy.

He accepted her completely; even going so far as to not question her willingness to hide her proud faunus heritage from the rest of the world. Sun was her knight in shiny armor; or in her case; bright white unbuttoned shirt. Maybe one day she'll fully express her feelings towards the boy; but not today...

" Blaaaaaaaaakkkkkeeeeee. Earth to Blake." Shaken out of her flight of fantasy; she saw both of the boys looking at her. " You there Blake?"

" Sorry, got lost in thought there for a minute there Sun. What did you ask?"

Sun just smiled so nonchalantly at her that she even wondered how someone could be so carefree. " Well when I came across you; you were reading that book. I was just curious as to what it was about."

" I didn't know that you were such a bookworm Sun." Suns' smile was just so contagious that she just had to smile.

" He's not. He just likes the person who was reading it." Sun turned to Neptune with a look of dumbfounded rage as he just elluded to Suns' feelings towards Blake. She didn't expect the two to come to blows over it but it did help explain their team dichotomy and dynamic.

" Seriously dude. What's wrong with you?"

Neptune continued looking so suave compared to his less than classy teammate. " Sun, you're like a brother to me. So let me give you some advice. Just ask Blake out already. For the teams sake. Seriously, Scarlet is going to kill you if you don't."

Their arguement seemed to be on a road to a physical confrontation if it wasn't stopped by the sound of Blakes giggles. " I'll be happy to go see the exhibit with you monkey boy."

The anger that covered Suns' face disappeared immediately at her words and turned to a face of exuberation. " Oh my god. Seriously? You and me? You mean you will?! I can't believe this. I've been thinking about this constantly about this over and over again. I've asked Scarlet about her opinion on this at least once a day. I can't believe that you and me and... Wait, did you just call me monkey boy?"

Maybe it was Suns' constant pacing back and forth as he tried to explain. Or how he animated his words with his hands and arms. Neither Blake nor Neptune could really tell what caused the humorous twinge that happened inside of them. Yet both knew exactly when that twinge exploded in all out laughter; Suns' deadpan face when he asked about the monkey boy comment.

"Well if you two are not so busy; we can talk about the book over some tea. My treat." Without even waiting for an answer; she took both of them by their arms and led them to her favorite coffee shop...

The stench of this place made him want to vomit. This 'human' city was filled with nothing but despicable dysphoric display of human decedance. These mongrels took great pleasure in their waste and defilement of the great mother of the earth. They had no clue of the storm that was going to be laid down upon their heads.

This man stood upon the Vale walls with his brown cloak flapping in the breeze. Beside him stood four other men similary garbed. His long ashen grey lion tail with pale white tip curled as a stockier built man stood next to him. " Ajani, control your emotions. You are not the only one who hates being here and not back home. Remember we're on a vital mission for our lord."

Ajani turned towards the stockier man and then turned his gaze to the other three men. " Syllabear, I am sorry my brother. I let my disgust get the better of me. My brothers; now is the hour of our victory. Down in that vile human city lies the relic that we have long sought. So now; I ask one more time, for the last time; lend me your stregnth. FOR VICTORY! FOR BABYLON!"

The other men cheered as they all peered down at the Vale museum; their weapons raised high in the air...

Blake was drinking her tea slowly as she watched Sun flip through the pages of her book with fanatical intent. The monkey tailed faunus rarely showed such an interest in books that to see him enthralled in _Dust & Sand_ was an amazing surprise. Finally he closed the book and placed it down on the table in front of him. His eyes finally lifted to meet Blakes' as she took in his utter exhileration.

" This... this is unbelievable Blake. I mean this book is just... I can't believe it." Rarely was Sun at a lack for words; so to see him like this was a pleasant surprise.

" I'm glad to see that you like it." Blake took another drink as Sun continued.

" I actually remember some of these stories from when I was a kid. I didn't know that they were part of a bigger story." Sun looked almost exasporated when he tried explaining. " My mother told me epilouge almost every night when I was a child."

" Well if you promise to keep the book in good condition; I'll let you borrow it. And if you're really nice; I'll let you read some to me." Both Sun and Neptune was shocked when they heard Blake flirt so openly with Sun. Blake was never so forward with Sun before that it took both of the huntsmen in training by surprise.

Neptune lifted his mug filled with piping hot black coffee to his lips and slowly drank a bit of it down. Personally he considered Vale coffee to be too bitter for his personal taste; nothing like Mistral coffee; yet here he was enjoying every bit of it. He couldn't tell if it was that he was enjoying the conversation that Sun and Blake were having; or that he knew that he wouldn't have to deal with Suns' excessive worrying about being back in Vale. He finally put down his mug and pulled out his scroll. His eyes glanced over to the time display on the scroll first in a passing fancy and then glared at it as he noticed the time. " Crap, Sun we're late!"

Suns' head whiplashed towards Neptune. " What? No no no no. But I want to spend more time with Blake."

Blakes' head turned from Sun to Neptune and then back to Sun in quick succession. " Time for what?"

Neptune and Sun stood up in unision and moved their chairs back under the coffee shop table. Sun sighed as he took one last glance at both the book and Blake; the woman of his dreams. " Time for us to get back on guard duty."

Blake stood up slowly and embraced Sun. " Go. Behave you two."

A colder breeze blew in as she watched the two boys walk away from her; towards the museum. Deep in her stomach; she felt a foreboding unease. What Blake couldn't tell if that feeling of unease sprung from her seeing Sun leave or from something else... something darker.

This thing they called a museum was nothing more than a heartless stone building that defiled the great mother with its' emptiness. Ajanis' team now stood across from the disrepectable building. Across from them; in front of the museum; stood less than a dozen lightly armed guards. To his team they were not even considered a light practice. All Ajani could do was let out a low growl as he considered their best option.

As he continued to consider his options; a slender man stepped forward with a slight spring in his step. " Don't worry about these guys. I'll give them a show to die for."

The man flashily disrobed his brown cloak to expose his modest brown trousers, tan shirt and brown vest. His silvery eyes focused on the guards in front of him as he bypassed the sword at his hip and instead pulled out a very ornate pan flute from his back. His devilish grin was undeniable as he slowy raised the flute to his lips. With artistic precision and grace he placed his lips lightly onto it and began to play a dreadful dirge for the guards and the awaiting patrons. The song progressed slowly and methodically through the opening hymn and increased in intensity till it reached a climax before the chorus.

The music reverberated through the streets; way past the museum. Each person who heard it became enthralled with the haunting grace and rhythm. Most stopped what they were doing and began a slow procession to where the music was coming from. More and more people began crowding the streets as they left businesses, houses, and vehicles to join the parade.

As the climax hit; all the surrounding crowds eyes seemed to gloss over. The slender man took a short pause to savour what came next. He litterally licked his lips before continuing. With a fresh amount of air in his lounges; he began the chorus. With rolling low notes and thrashing high notes the chorus ripped apart the methological opening and changed the dirge entirely.

The crowds reaction wasn't immediate; yet a low chorus of screams starting from the museum began pouring all the way back to where the last stragglers were just coming in. The screams were inhuman, feral and they were increasing in intensity. Finally at the peak of the chorus; the first blows fell. The security guards were the first to throw blows; more and more people joined in on the fighting till the whole mass was embroiled in senseless combat.

The man continued to play till he felt a strong hand lay itself upon his right shoulder. " Robin, don't get carried away. Remember, our mission here is to recover the artifact; not slaughter these wretched humans."

Ajani walked right next to both of them with Syllabear and the fifth cloaked man in tow. " Furion is right, end this madness now. Let these pests enjoy their sleep."

Robin finished his dirge in a flourish of noise that betrayed the rest of the song. With the songs end; ever human who fell under its' trance fell like ragdolls to the hard ground.

The fifth man passed all of them and began the accent up the stairs to the awaiting museum. He released his cloak to reveal his dark grey hair and inhumanly pale white skin. His eyes flashed red as he took notice of a barely clothed figure that stood waiting for him at the entrance to the museum. This boy with his mop of sandy blonde hair and unbuttoned white shirt really thinks he could stand in their way; while weilding a measly staff. The nerve of it all.

To make matters worse is that this boy is a faunus. A betrayer to his own kind; he cohabitates with these mongrels. Oh this boy deserves to face the wrath of a true faunus; he deserves to taste the blade of Lestat...


	2. Chapter 2

_Four thunders break open the heaven_

 _Four elements break open our breathren_

 _The gods call for the final prayers_

 _The brothers stand as the final players_

 _Babel brightens up the burning sky_

 _Twin brothers, both of courage and honor_

 _Gone past beyond the fear of failure; of death_

 _Face each other for the last time_

 _So that one will die..._

Dust & Sand excerpt (Brothers Duel)

Chapter 2: Broken Tower

Danger... Fear... Anger...

Feelings started filling Blake Belladonna as she saw the smoke rise in the air from the direction of the museum. Sun was there; he should be safe. Sun was a huntsman in training; he can handle himself. Is he safe? Is he hurt? Does he need her help?

Her stomach dropped deeper as she heard the city sirens being to fill her ears with the screeching whine. Without even realizing it, she felt her legs moving towards the museum. At first she just walked slowly towards the direction yet began to pick up speed when she started noticing the bodies of humans that were sprawled across the street and sidewalk. She was at a dead run by the time she hit the steps of the museum as a large locker crashed in front of her; shooting out the Gambol Shroud into her awaiting arms.

She breached the doors as a tempest of rage and fear. Whatever did this was powerful but like hell was she going to let whoever or whatever get away with it. She felt an urge in her gut to run towards the newly opened ancient faunus exhibit. Which she quickly confirmed when she noticed the battered and beaten bodies of Suns' team on the ground; sans Sun.

Each member was riddled with bruises, cuts, lacerations, and dust burns across their bodies. Yet each one was still alive if just barely. Yet the fact that Sun wasn't with them worried her deeply. She couldn't hear the sounds of combat over any of the alarms so that meant that either he fell elsewhere or that he was taken. Neither thoughts left her with a good feeling.

Finally she found the entrance to the ancient weapons exhibit; which caused her movement to grind to a screeching halt. Within the exhibit stood five men; four of which were cloaked. The fifth man held someone up singlehandedly by the throat with his left hand. His right gripped a long slender blade with a black hilt. The blade tip slowly dripped blood down onto the marble floor below.

He turned his head slowly to gaze upon the latest disturbance to their mission. Under the harsh museum lights; his skin shown an even more inhumanly white glow. His blood red eyes pierced her own as she noticed the blackness on his back twitch.

" Looks like we have another interloper trying to interfere. " His voice sounded entrallingly sweet; hiding the tongue that was as sharp as steel behind it. " Robin, you must be loosing your touch."

A slender man walked past him with a slight hop in his step and lowered his hood; exposing his spikey blonde hair and even spikier ears. He examined Blake from head to toe and took note of all of her attributes before turning towards the pale skinned man. " Nope Lestat. My song was only meant to affect the human vermin. She is not."

The other four turned their full attention to Blake now. As Lestat turned to face her, she finally noticed who he held by the throat. The boy she loved and cared for deeply; Sun Wu Kong. " SUN!"

Lestat tossed the bloodied and beaten body towards her and she gasped in horror as he fell broken onto the marble floor. " Just what I was hoping for. Another one of those tamed beasts that dare calls themself 'faunus'."

The blackness that clung to his back burst open in a giant flurry of action; exposing his spread black leathery wings. His right hand tightend against the blade hilt as his face turned into that of a snarling beast.

Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud and now dual wielded her weapon; positioning herself into a defensive stance. Lestat started stalking towards her wih his blade tip causing sparks as it slid across the floor. " Come let me taste that sweet sweet blood of yours."

Fear filled her stomach as she watched him slowly stalk closer to her. He radiated inhuman evil; more monsterous than even any Grim she faced. She had not felt this kind of fear in a long time. A part of her wanted nothing more than just run far, far away from this place and not look back. The only resolve that kept her there was Suns' unconcious body that was sprawled out on the ground. She had to find some way to stop these monsters and save him.

Unfortunately Lestat decided to not give her a chance. He swung the blade skyward in a long arc; forcing her to backstep in order to not be cut. He followed that with a quick slash down before tucking the hilt close to his body and thrusting forward.

Blake was forced completely on the defensive as all she could do was block and dodge his violently strong and fast attacks. He refused to give her room to breathe let alone go on the offensive. She finally decided to use her trump card on him; her shadow clone semblance. She originally was hesitant to use it against him due to the fact that she didn't want to give the full depth of her techniques to the other four men. Once she managed to beat Lestat; she would still have to deal with them.

Lestats' lunge was quick and forceful as his blade went straight into Blakes' chest. He grinned as the blade slid smoothly through her. A quick, clean kill was his most preferred method of execution. Yet something entered his though as he fully comprehended the situation. The thrust was too clean; like he was passing through nothing at all.

His face turned to one of complete horror as he saw the young girls body vanish in front of him. Yet he soon smiled as he let the situation sink in. This girl reminded him so much of himself.

Blake landed hard on the ground; both her blades parrallel to each other in her hands. She had just slashed this monster of a faunus with her blades and knew that his wounds were fatal. The horror of her action hit her harder than any blow she had ever taken. She looked up at the man she had just killed with a pained look on her face.

Yet her pained face turned to one of complete horror. He had a sick, sadistic smile on his face as he glared down at her. " Amazing, lovely. No one has managed to trick me so well in such a long time. Too bad you waste your soul on such weak endeavors. Here let me show you how it's really done."

Her eyes focused so hard on the man in front of her that she shut out all of her other senses. She kept close watch on the man that was pouring out blood from two blade wounds on his chest. She never knew how much trouble she was truely in till she felt a cold sharp pain enter from the back of her body.

Blake tried to force a shadow clone to get clear but she could only fall forward from where she was and her clone remained. Her body felt numb as she tried to stand.

Lestat walked closer towards his prey as she tried to crawl away from him. His poison was slowly entering her blood stream and slowing it down to a crawl. With it; she could not even do basic stuff such as stand let alone more advanced movements such as combat.

" Your little soul ability is nice but nowhere near the same caliber of mine. But I shall give you the gift of a swift death for your troubles." She didn't know how he could attack her from behind while still in front of her. Or how he survived her attack from earlier. Worse was that she didn't even know how she was going to survive.

He now stood in front of her prone body; his blade ready to land the final blow. Blake closed her eyes slowly as tear poured down her cheeks. This was how she was going to die. All she could think about in her last few moments was all the mistakes she had made in the past. How she could of spent more time enjoying life with her team and letting Sun know that she loved him. So many regrets to take to ones' death.

The blade fell...

Instead of the embrace of nothingness; Blake felt a wave of warmth cascade over her. No more numbness.

" Is she ok?" A voice Blake knew so well broke the pregnant silence. Her eyes shot open to see the man that was to be her executioner; frozen from the neck down. To each side of her was her teammates. Ruby on her left, Yang on her right, and Weiss right on top of her with a hand on Blakes' wound.

" Ruby she's got a sword wound in her stomach. Even though I counteracted the numbing ice dust inside her body; it will only make her open to blood loss from the wounds. Our best bet is to fall back and get her treated." Weiss had a worried look on her face as she looked at the four other cloaked men.

Yang stepped forward and slammed her fist together. " I don't know about either of you but I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to let some jerks get away with hurting my team mate."

Ruby pointed the crescent rose at the middle man of the group. " Weiss, we just have to hold them here till back up arrives. If we do that then we'll win for sure."

The leader stepped forward. " You speak too highly of yourself child. You mongrels know nothing of us yet believe you have a chance to impede our mission with your annoying antics. What is stopping us from slaying you all?"

Ruby gulped down the full implication of this mans words before considering her response. " Don't let our age fool you. We're trained huntresses who have bested Grimm. We're not afraid of you."

The man undid his cloak letting it fall free; exposing his solid muscular physic and golden lions tail. " You slay pesky vermin yet speak as if you were warriors. Child you have much to learn of true strength."

This lion tailed faunus spun a bodly length staff around him with two almost identical blades at each tip. One of the blades was black while the other was white. He pointed the white blade towards Ruby Rose and grinned menacingly; showing off his sharpened canines. " Come child... take your best shot."

Ruby fired off two rounds from the Crescent Rose towards his chest in quick succession. With just a twist of his blade; both rounds stopped to a dead halt at the edge of the white blade. The bullets then turned to powder as they touched the blade.

" Ashes to ashes, rust to rust. You're attack turned out to be a bust." A thin spike haired man moved towards the leader. " Not to be THAT guy but we are on a time table here, Ajani."

Ajani, the lion tailed leader turned towards him and snarled. " Robin, find the relic. Furion and Sylla, pick a dance partner."

The massive form of a man stepped forward and pointed towards Yang with his giant hand. " I'll take the blonde one. Furion, take the albino."

Both men tossed off their cloaks while the one named Robin ran deeper into the exhibit looking for the relic that they desired. The man named Sylla was a massive bear of a faunus. He had fur going all along his arms that ended at his wrists and a massive stone claw strapped to his left arm and hand.

Furion was tall and lean with two small tusks jutting up from his lower jaw. In each hand he weilded stone axes with great ease. He eyed down Weiss as he crept closer to her. His face was full of exuberation as he seemed to revel in the thought of combat. " Round two. FIGHT!"

The members of team RWBY sans Blake stood poised to defend as these faunus men stalked towards them. Thoughts of what might happen filled each of the girls head. The fear of the unknown of combat always filled the back of each girls mind. Ruby tried to shake off the feeling as she expanded Crescent Rose into its' scythe mode and send the scythe blade behind her. She had already thought of how the fight between her and Ajani was going to go. She was going to use her speed to disarm and disable him before he could even react.

Ruby fired off a round from Crescent Rose and charged forward with the added momentum from the fired roud. She sent the scythe blade low to take out his legs or at most cause him to jump. Ajani jumped over it with ease and let his back become exposed to her second attack.

Ruby fired a round into the ground and another at the direction she was charging to in order to spring her up into the air and cause her forward momentum to dead stop. She spun the scythe around to attack Ajani from behind. Yet again he dodged out of the way. As she landed; she continued the spin and picked up speed from more timed round shots. She became a blur of motion as she spun and lept all around Ajani; hoping to land a blow onto him. But no matter how fast she got; he always managed to dodge her blows.

" Are you quite done little girl?" Ajani spoke as he turned the black blade towards Ruby. To her horror; she found that her scythe came to a dead stop, jerking her body from the rough end of movement. " Blades of steel will never hurt me."

Ruby found her scythe knocked away by an invisible force and Ajani right on top of her. Their weapons clashed violently as Ruby barely managed to block his attacks. His attacks were an impressive display of untempered rage and brutality. In desperation, Ruby tried to collapse her scythe into rifle form in order to fire at point blank; only for Ajani to knock her weapon free from her grip and send it flying with the black bladed side of his staff.

Ajani gripped Rubys' head in his left hand and smashed her hard into the concrete wall of the museum. Her head exploded in pain as her world went bright white and then into darkness. Her lifeless body fell like a ragdoll to the ground.

All around Blake; the horror story continued to repeat itself. Ruby was knocked out cold by Ajani, Weiss was being beat down by Furion, and Yang was losing in a contest of stregnth to Syllabear. What started out as a nice peaceful day had turned into a nightmare that refused to end. She was slowly bleeding out, her team was completed defeated, and Suns' team was also fully wrecked. Somehow Blake found the stregnth to stand and weild her blades. She slowly stumble walked towards Ajani; not knowing how she was going to beat him. All she knew was that he had to be defeated.

Ajani took stock of the faunus girl that walked towards him. She was already in no condition to fight him; yet was willing to push herself beyond the point of breaking due to her loyalty to her friends. When he was younger he would of admired the girls' blind devotion. Yet he wasn't that man any more. But if a noble sacrifice was what she desired then it wasn't his place to stop her. He would give her the honor of a quick death.

Blake looked on as Ajani readied the killing blow upon her. At least she would die trying to defend her friends.

The sound of crashing metal filled the exhibit hall. For the second time today Blake had avoided death by timely intervention. This time an unknown person stood in between her and Ajani with a long sword that looked like a propeller blade deadlocked with Ajanis' staff.

The confusion on Blakes' face however could not hold a candle to the shock of disbelief and horror that now shown on Ajanis'. To Blake he looked as a negative reflection of Ajani. He had short spikey black hair and a black tipped lions tail. To Ajanis' more average attire; this man wore what looked like military fatigues. Yet she could tell that they both had the same face.

"Hello Ajani... I don't think I need to tell you this but... you have the right to remain silent." His words caught Blake off guard yet seemed to infuriate Ajani even more. He easily pushed Ajani backwards several feet and cause the white lion tailed faunus to trip over some rubble on the floor. As they broke the black haired man opened a compartment in the hilt of his blade and put what appeared to be a vial of dust into it. He then turned his gaze to Ajani; who was charging him at a dead run.

" GIDEON!" Ajanis' scream echoed through the museum exhibit as the man named Gideon slammed his blade into the marble. Blake barely noticed a yellow powder pour from the blade hilt and down the center of the blade to the floor. The powder shot out across the floor in every direction and formed an intricate pattern on the ground. " What the? Gideon, what the hell have you done?"

Gideon looked at Ajani whos' feet were now stuck in place; then turned his attention upon the other men that followed him. " Ajani Nacatyl, you and your cohorts are under arrest for assault, robbery, sedition, treason, and murder. You are hereby ordered to drop your weapons and surrender. If you refuse these order then I am hereby authorized to use lethal force. Sucks to be you guys doesn't it."

" Dammit Gideon what the hell did you do to us?" Ajani growled as he recklessly stabbed the white sided stone blade down upon the yellow crystallized sand that encrusted his feet.

"Oh if Maestro could see you now. Remember when he trapped us like this many years ago. He did his best trying to teach us the art of Sand Shackles. Too bad you always thought you were too good for all those lesson." Gideon snapped his head back towards Ajani as his eyes burned with contempt for the man. " And then you killed him."

Sweat ran off of Ajanis' brow as he dared not take his eyes off of Gideon. It has been too long since they last met and he knew that Gideon held a deep seated hatred due to him killing Maestro. " So you're willing to put me down like a dog? Brother, don't make me laugh."

" You're no brother of mine." Gideon stalked towards Ajani slowly as a predator would with cornered prey. He knew what Ajani was capable of and didn't want to leave himself open to any impulsive counterattack. " Now please be a good pup and drop your weapon."

Ajani looked around to find that at least a dozen troops matching Gideons attire had entered the room and surrounded them. 'It couldn't end like this. It shouldn't', he kept on telling himself in his head. 'There was still so much work that needed to be done.'

As if on cue; the exhibit shot bright with explosions. From every direction blasts sent shrapnels of glass, stone, and marble. Half of Gideons team were taken out from the blast while him and the others sheltered the girls of team RWBY and Sun from the debris. Gideon wrapped his arms tightly around Blake and lowered her to the ground. She saw that he became a living shield to protect her even without knowing her name. Even his face showed a concern for her well being that she never expected from anyone older than her before.

After it was all over he released her and stood back up to inspect his surroundings. To her horror; she noticed that Ajani and the rest of his team were free and of Robins return. " Sigh I leave you guys for just a bit and you all just have to go and get caught. Tsk tsk tsk, what am I going to do with you boys?"

Ajani turned to Robin and snarled at the shorter man. " Shut your mouth now or I'll have you eat your tongue."

Their conversation continued for a bit longer but by this time Blake was feeling a bit too lightheaded. Blake finally accepted the gift of unconciousness as the one named Robin lifted a small golden object into view...


	3. Chapter 3

_Unblinded eyes I finally can see_

 _The deceptive evil of our sin_

 _With our victory there is no guarantee_

 _That peace will ever be ours again_

 _Until we're allowed to be free_

 _Break the chains that bind us harshly... yeah_

 _Bleed out the poisonous body_

 _Torturously heal me violently... again_

 _Until we're allowed to be free_

 _Stretch out your hand further... yeah_

 _Shout out our final decree_

 _To break the tower and save our land..._

Dust & Sand excerpt (Ghosts of Babel)

Chapter 3 - A Tale of Two Worlds

Trying to swim in a world of darkness. That is what it felt like for Blake Belladonna. There was no up or down; nor sight or sound. She was adrift in the blackened abyss and couldn't find her way out. Her memory also was shrouded in mystery. How did she get here and why did she come? Furthermore, how was she going to find her way back?

She tried calling out yet found her voice taken from her. She was completely helpless in the void. As she had nothing better to do due to the vast nothingness; she thought back to the last moments she could remember.

It all started in Vale she recalled. She met with two people who she knew well; one in particular she seemed to think of fondly. Then there was this marble and stone building. It might of been a prison; ok she wasn't for sure that it was a prison; but it sure looked like a place to harbor criminals with its' imposing fascade.

Now her mind skips to inside this building. She looks around and sees these weird men and young girls fighting. She recognizes the girls as people she knew yet couldn't remember their names.

Now there are two men that look the opposite of each other. Yet she could tell that they shared the same soul. All these memories made no sense what so ever to her yet somewhere deep in her mind she knew that they should.

Yet all of a sudden her right hand felt warm as if someone was holding it in an embrace. Now she could hear a soft noise coming from somewhere. She turned in every direction trying to figure out where it was coming from till finally she could pick up a single word, 'Blake'.

She walked towards the direction of where she thought it was coming from and felt her hand get warmer and warmer with each step. As she continued; her body became lighter and it seemed the darkness began to subside. Without even realizing it, the warmth in her body began to spread up her arm and across the rest of her body. Part of her was shocked that she didn't even realize how cold she was, while the other part tried to deduce what it all meant.

Eventually she began to recall everything that led up to her being there. There was trouble at the museum? Yes it was a museum not a jail. The men there were faunus; yet didn't look like they belonged to the White Fang. They were after something that was on display. She tried to stop them. She was... she was stabbed in the back. She barely moved out of the way from having her spine pierced. There were others there trying to stop these men. The girls... the girls there were her teammates, Ruby, Yang, and Weiss. And there was a boy there; a boy with sandy blonde hair and a monkey tail. "SUN!"

As she shouted his name the world went white around her and she felt herself lift into the air like a leaf on the wind...

Beacon Academy Medical Center

Blakes' eyes hurt like hell as she slowly forced her eyelids to open. Around her sights and sounds pummeled her senses. In her groggy state; she recognized multiple shapes surrounding her as she lay flat on her back. Slowly but surely the blurry shapes and colors began to come into focus and she realized that her entire team surrounded her bedside. Her ears began to pick up garbled noises that slowly began making sense as she began to grasp her surroundings.

" Blake... Blake can you hear us?" One of the shapes said. Her cat ears twitched a bit as she began to shake off the last of the disorientation.

" Yeah... Yes I can hear you? Where am I?" Blakes' eyes finally could focus enough to make out all three of her team mates clearly. All three looked a bit worse for wear with bandages and bruises dotting their bodies.

A voice from behind the girls piped in sharply startling the girls. " You are in the Beacon Medical Center. You took a nasty blade stab into your stomache. It is actually amazing that nothing vital was it. Even so; it was touch and go for a long time due to your substantial blood loss. If it wasn't for the quick thinking of Jace; you would of died."

The girls parted as they turned towards the chair behind them letting Blake get a good look at Professor Ozpin; who was casually sipping coffee from his mug. Blake let his words sink in for second until she noticed a name she never heard before. " Professor, who is Jace?"

A voice from outside the room chimed in quickly. " I'm Jace. More precisely, my name is Haven Jace, second in command of the fourty second reconnisence and reclamation division of New Roma." A man of medium build wearing tan military fatigues; walked in with a quick pace and gave Blake an unknown salute. On each hip he wore the most particular pistols and multiple pouches on his belt around his waist. What was even most particular was his long bushy wolf tail and wolf ears. " And as second in command of my division; I would like to apologize to you personally for all the injuries that you have suffered due to our negligence."

Blake looked deep into his eyes and saw his deep regret. Even through his tough exterior and weather worn appearance; he did hold deep sorrow about everything. " It's ok. We're huntresses in training; we accept that injury is a part of the job. I just hope the man that saved me is ok."

Jace had a look of shock on his face as he heard her worried about his commander more than her current situation. " Um... I... Uh... My commander. Gideon Nacatyl is completely fine save for a few cuts and bruises. Unfortunately he is currently in talks with one of your leaders. His name was Ironwood wasn't it?"

" One thing at a time Jace. I believe miss Belladonna should hear as to what she is now a part of before we get too in depth." Ozpins' words caught her off guard for a second until she realized that something cold and heavy was on her right arm. It looked like a bone white bracer with multiple markings carved deep into it.

" Upon your arm now rests the lost artifact 'Titania's Call'. It is and old and ancient weapon created back before the collapse of the last great faunus city; Babel." Jaces' words were so cold and impassionate that it originally took the girl off guard. " The men that you fought in that building you call a museum were after it."

" Wait wait... Did you say Babel? That's not possible; Babel was just a rumor." Blakes ears perked up when she heard him talk about Babel. She recognized the name from her book Dust & Sand as being the main city where it took place. She then remembered that the word Titania was also found in the book. " Also wasn't Titania some kind of immortal goddess who ruled as queen of Babel?"

" I am glad to see that the stories that were told of your infatuation with the book Dust & Sand turned out to be true. Will make explaining everything to you a bit easier." A slight smile crossed his face. " The book is a stylized version of Babels' rise and fall. Most of the things written in the book are quite accurate. More to the point; you now are the unwilling owner of one of the more chaotic weapons of that time."

This time Ruby cut in asking for an explanation. " It doesn't look like its' so dangerous. Why such the worry?"

" The main use for the bracer was as an activation key for long lost massive war golems called Titans; named after Titania herself. Unfortunately the bracer has an unfortunate side effect that calls all the monsters you call Grimm towards it like a beacon." Jaces' face turned to worry as he turned to Ozpin.

" At this moment a swarm of Grimm are gathering around Vale and have begun marching towards Beacon as we speak. Multiple teams have gone out already in order to quell as many of their number as possible. All the other kingdoms have sent as many of their trained teams to assist along with the Atlas air fleet. Even with all this help; as it stands now both Vale and Beacon will be over run by Grimm within the week." It was rare that Ozpin showed this much worry, which just heightened Blakes grasp of the situation. " Which now leads to our current problem."

Jace turned back to face her before explaining. " There are two ways to stop the bracer. One, the wearer of the bracer must die. Then said bracer would disconnect itself from the wearer so a new one could claim it. Two, it must be opened with the Word of Titania; basically it's a way to unbond any unfortunate soul from any of Titanias' Ramient. Which unfortunately leads us to our second problem."

" Second problem? What's worse than a horde of Grimm coming to kill us all?" Ruby turned towards Jace with a worried expression on her face.

" The Word is located in our capitol city and they are not too fond of visitors." Jace lowered his head towards Blake.

Even before he finished speaking; Blake had already decided on trying the second option. A part of it had to do with her not wanting to lose an arm while a vast majority was due to her actually wanting to see a faunus city with her own eyes. " If it is no to much to ask; I would like to accompany you back to your capitol city in order to get this bracer removed."

" No." A new voice startled everyone and caused everyone in the room to turn towards the door. In the doorway stood a black spikey haired man with a greyish black lions tail with a dark black patch of fur at the tip. He also wore the same style of fatigues as Jace; but had a long sword on his back.

" Gideon... I." Jace had a look of fear on his face as he tried to talk to Gideon.

Gideon let out a low sigh as he thumb and index finger at the bridge of his nose. " Jace I know you have good intentions but you also must consider all the consequences of your actions before speaking."

" Sir, with all due respect, I can not ask this girl to give up her arm so easily when there is another option that should be considered." Both men stood their ground and locked their eyes on each other. A pregnant pause filled the room as both men sized each other up in case it came to blows.

Gideon glanced over at all the girls in the room and took note of their determined faces and let out another sigh. " We leave tommorrow at dawn. Jace if this goes tits up then it's your ass."

Gideon turned and left before another word could be said about it. " Well he seemed very pleasant." Everyone turned towards Blake due to her comment. Everyone knew that she meant it sarcastically; but something about Gideon in general just irked something deep inside of each of them.

Ozpin stood up and walked towards Blakes' hospital bed. " You all need to get ready for the journey ahead. And you miss Belladonna should get a bit more rest. You will need your stregnth for the challenges that lay ahead."

Without another word both him and Jace left the room.

Blake contemplated to herself in a moment of silence of their departure, ' Tommorrow is the day that I will see the faunus kingdom.'


	4. Chapter 4

_The ferryman, the ferryman_

 _Awaits at Styx_

 _The ferryman, the ferryman_

 _Awaits for six_

 _The ferryman, the ferryman_

 _Give him two_

 _The ferryman, the ferryman_

 _Lets you through_

Dust & Sand excert (Ferrymans Fee)

Chapter 4 - Across the Azure Sky

'Everything was so bright.' That was all Blake was thinking. The high sun overhead shown down over a clear sky and illuminated this world they were on so brilliantly. Even still, she wished she didn't have to cover her eyes so much. All the shiny airships of the Altesian military overhead didn't help matters either.

She also still felt the bandaged up wound aching with every step she took. The journey she had been told; was not an easy one by any stretch of the imagionation and to undertake it with this injury was no small feat. Yet she refused to give up her arm when there was another option left to her.

As she got close to the awaiting craft that was going to take her to the lead airship for the expedition; she took note of all the huntsmen and huntresses that stood at the ramp for her. Besider her team mates stood the full roster of JNPR, SSN,and CFVY. She had expected that all three teams were already out in the field; helping to quell the vast amounts of Grimm that were heading towards Vale. So to see them assembled together here caught her off guard.

They all took turns to greet her and wish her a safe trip before departing to let Sun and her have a moment. " Sun, everyone, I'm so glad to see you all here."

She looked over at the monkey tailed faunus and noticed that he too was still trying to cope with the scope of his injuries. Yet just seeing him filled her heart with much needed joy and courage. " We all have been out in the field. But your friend Jaune said that everyone should come back and say our farewells before you leave on your journey."

Sun paused for a second before continuing. " That Jaune is an all right guy; kinda reminds me of a scrawnier me."

Blake could only let out a small giggle as she heard his words. She never knew that Jaune was such a softy. She regretted now all the times she pushed her friends away due to her personal demons.

" Blake I just want you to know... Thank you. I was told that you were the first one on the scene at the museum. Also that I'm sorry that it was my fault for being to weak to stop those men. Cause of them..." Blake placed two fingers upon Suns' lips; stopping him mid sentence. Sun had such a worried expression on his face that it pained her to look upon him. She knew what he was going to say instinctively. He was going to blame himself for her getting hurt and having to go on this mission to remove this bracer. The bracer that has now threatened Vale with an almost impossible to stop, swarm of Grimm.

" Sun, you're not weak. Even if you were; you were not the only one to lose to them. My team also failed to stop them a long with this unknown faunus team that appeared. I don't blame you for this. If anything, this should be even more motivation for our teams to grow stronger." Blake could see that his expression finally changed to that of unease. Deep down she knew what she had to do. She moved her hand to the back of his head and pressed him down towards her till their lips met. This was the moment of their first kiss together; a moment she never wanted to end. Yet end it did. Their lips parted as she removed her hand and she finally got to see the face she had been waiting for. The face of pure love and caring that he had for her. " Sun, please be careful out there fighting Grimm."

" You too Blake and... come back to me..." Blake nodded as she heard Suns last words for her. Finally she knew her time was up and walked up the ramp into the awaiting ship.

Seated already was her team mates Weiss, Yang, and Ruby. Both Weiss and Yangs' expressions were completely normal for the two. Weiss already meticulously going over the flight plan and Yang having a somewhat happy glee to be on a new mission. The one that worried her was Ruby; she had her head down and overall had a sullen look on her face.

Ever since that day in the museum; Ruby had such a downtrodden look on her face and could barely look at Blake. Neither of the other two girls knew what was causing it and Ruby refused to talk about it; all she would say was that it was all her fault.

Sitting across from her team sat the remaining members of Gideons' team. Three members of his team died in battle against Ajani and his men while another two were in such critical condition that they could not be moved from the hospital. Yet despite all that; Gideon showed no worse for ware. In face; she doubted that he suffered anything more than a few bruises.

Behind Gideon sat Haven Jace; a somewhat overly excited and exhuberant man. For a second she saw his wolf ear twitch and then his head turn towards her. As their eyes locked, she could see him greet her with a warm smile and his hand waving for her to sit next to him.

Blake didn't even realize what caused her to take a seat next to him but did anyways. There was just something in her gut telling her that sitting next to him was going to be a good decision. He looked her up and down real quick with both of his eyes twitching back and forth. " I'm glad to see that you have recuperated from the vast majority of your injuries in such a short time."

A part of the man really put her off guard; compared to the other members of his team, he was a lot more open and pleasant. " Thank you... um Jace."

" Again I would like to apologize for the fact that my peope are the ones to blame for your injuries." He turned his head to look forward but she could tell that he really was looking more off to space than focusing on anything in particular.

" Um... seeing that we have some time; I was wondering why you are called Haven Jace compared to Gideons' name." She noticed that his ears really perked up when he heard what she had to say.

" Ah. Well that is actually a part of my peoples culture; we call it our home names. To put in in terms that anyone could understand it would basically be me calling myself Jace of the city of Haven." He said that so matter of factly that it appeared that he had been asked that question many, many times before. " To use ones last name in public is considered quite an insult."

Blake thought about it for a second before asking another question. " So why do Gideon and Ajani both use their last names then?"

This time there was no hiding the expression of shock and worry on Jaces' face as his head quick shot to look at her. The shock caught Blake off guard and both were left silenced. If it wasn't for a voice in front of them, then the conversation would of stalled immediately. " Both Ajani and I lost our home name a long time ago, so that's why. "

Gideons' heavy voice caught them both off guard and put a little fear inside Jace. Blake could only look down at the floor as she was filled with a bit of guilt about prying. " Um... Thank you Gideon. I'm sorry for prying."

Gideon didn't answer. She knew it was more for the fact that he didn't care to answer let alone care about being offended. The more she got to know about the faunus leader; the more she learned that he really didn't care about what others thought about him. He only cared about his duty.

Blake turned back towards Jace to see that he was still a bit nervous. " Ah, Jace if you don't mind, I do have a few other questions about your people and culture."

Jace loosened up a bit and let out a low sigh before turning back towards her. " I live to serve."

" During the fight I noticed that Gideon used an unknown dust ability that was able to ensnare Ajani and his men for a time. Also the dust looked more coarse and unrefined compared to normal dust. Also the weird, leather winged faunus called my semblance a soul ability." Jace put his hand up in front of Blake to stop her from just spouting out more and more questions.

" Well let us see... First question last; last question first. That was the bat winged faunus name Lestat Tepes. Just one of the criminals that joined Ajani on his mission of violence and bloodshed. Also, what you call semblance we call the gift of the soul. Basically the same thing but different name." Jace just looked so happpy to answer her questions; it seemed a bit odd and contrived. " Also what you saw wasn't dust; it was sand. Sand is basically a weaker but more accessible form of dust. And last, his technique is called Hieromancy, basically he is a master of bonds and controls."

Their discussion continued even after the ship docked inside the bigger airship. She learned so much about the faunus kingdom that she thought she was living in a dream. Finally, the two groups were escorted to their awaiting rooms for the two day long journey. Both Weiss and Yang took great notice at how the normally antisocial Blake was so open and friendly around Jace that it was scary. Blake really loved learning all she could about the faunus.

But as the four girls entered their private sleeping quarters; it pretty much became apparent that the antisocial one at the moment was the normally bubbly and outgoing Ruby...

As they put their belongings on their corresponding beds; with Yang placing Blakes' bag on her bed due to her injuries; Yang finally worked up the courage to confront her half sister and their team leader. " Ok, Ruby enough is enough. What's wrong?"

Rubys' only response was to freeze up in fear as she heard her sister confront her. Weiss and Blake both turned to look at Yang then Ruby; each waiting for Rubys' response. Yet it never came; or not how they thought it would come. Weiss was the first to notice the trembling in Rubys' shoulders and the soft sobs that she was letting out. Something happened during the museum fight that had hurt Ruby so emotionally that even the thought of it had caused her to lose all confidence in herself; or so Weiss surmised.

Blake walked over towards their team leader and placed her arms around her; embracing her in a warm hug. Yet all three noticed the startled jump from Ruby as Blake did that and the pieces slowly started to fit together. " Ruby, what ever happened; it wasn't your fault."

Ruby could only bury her head deeper into Blakes' chest as she heard those words. " But it is. Blake if it wasn't for me then you wouldn't be so hurt or Vale be in such trouble."

Blake slowly ran her hand through the younger girls short red hair. The normally emotionless Blake actually had a very compassionate look on her face. " Ruby I don't remember much of what happened there so I don't really understand why you're so upset. Please, if you are up to it I would like to hear what happened after I passed out."

Ruby lightly pushed away from Blake; who let go of her embrace without resistant; and sat on her assigned bed. Without a word, both Yang and Weiss sat on Blakes' assigned bed across from Ruby while Blake sat right next to the young girl.

Ruby started her story right at when she heard that there was a major crisis at the museum. She went on to explain that her and Yang were out shopping/enjoying the day when their scrolls lit up with the call for immediate help. They met Weiss on the way to the museum and had immediately called for even more backup when they saw the three members of SSSN unconcious. She purposely cut out the parts that Blake already knew and skipped forward to when Blake was about to pass out.

Gideon had Ajani and his three cohorts feets captured and his team already outnumbered them. It was then that the last cohort reappeared with the bracer in tow. His name was Robin Goodfellow, which all four girls learned after the battle. From Gideons' briefing during Blakes' recovery, they learned that not only was he an enimga bu also quite dangerous.

He had easily broke the others from the sand bonds and took out half of Gideons' men with attacks that even Rubys' sharp eyes couldn't track. With a more even playing field; Ajanis' team clashed violently with Gideons'. Neither team was willing to give an inch. If it wasn't for the appearance of the Altesian soldiers then the battle would of continued unhindered.

Robin was the one that allowed for the rest of the team to escape unimpeeded and even held off Gideon and three of his men solo. Ruby then paused right when it was about to end and tensed up.

" Ruby, what happened when Robin was leaving?" Blake had a concerned expression on her face as she saw the younger girls apprehension.

" Blake I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." Ruby looked like she was going to cry again and if it wasn't for Blake placing an arm around the girl; she might have. " I had a clear shot of the bracer. I thought that if I shot it; that it would shatter and their whole mission would be a waste."

Ruby passed for a second to let her words sink in before continuing. " Instead of shattering, it got knocked loose from his grip and bounced across the ground towards you."

Finally it all made sense to Blake. The bracer ended up locked on her arm due to Rubys' attempt to destroy it. So Ruby held this deep seeded burden of knowing that she was the cause of so much suffering and fear. All the other girls could sympathize with her but none could blame her. There was no ill content in her actions; in fact, if her plan had worked then at most she would of only been blamed for breaking such an old relic.

" Ruby I dont blame you for what happened. I don't think anyone here does. Please don't blame yourself; if you do then everyone's sacrifice would of been for naught." Blakes' words finally broke through Rubys' sullen expression and she could see that finally Ruby was able to let out a soft smile.

Their moment of bonding was howerver interrupted by two loud knocks on their door. Weiss was the first to stand up and subsequently opened it. In walked an Altesian soldier robot pushing a large food cart right into the center of the room. Its' voice crackled with static before speaking in a somewhat high pitch whiny electronic voice. " Compliments of General Ironwood. Your dinner is served members of team RWBY."

Without waiting for a response; the soldier turned around and walked out the door. The girls were then left with lighter hears and bellys aching to be full...

Some place off in the distance stood five men. They knew exactly where the airships were going and had already planned on how they were going to reobtain the object they sought. Oh yes, Titanias' Bracer will be theirs; then New Roma, and finally the world...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - Falling Towards the Sky

A cold and cloudy sky blocked what little moonlight could be shown in this pitch darkness. Through the darkness cut five of the Altesian militaries finest airships; each armed to the teeth with state of the art weaponry and sensors. The mission was simple; get team RWBY, the faunus commandos, and a division of altesian robotic soldiers to the Skyfall cliffs and eliminate all obstacles that would present themselves. Simple and straight forward; there was nothing that would prevent them from succeeding in such an easy mission. That's what was causing Eustes Virdent; captain of the airship _Shizno_ to worry.

He was a Veteran airship captain with more years piloting than any other captain currently in service. Most of his colleagues consider him an old warhorse; emphasis on old. He had seen enough war and death in his long life that he was smart enough to purposely go out of his way to avoid it.

Maybe that's why they sent him on such an assignment. Just a simple pick up and deliver, escort mission. At most he would be having to face aerial menaces in the form of Nevermores but besides that nothing else.

Yet tonight something felt off. Something somewhere didn't feel right to him and he knew that sooner or later trouble was going to go wrong.

" Helmsman, cut our speed by one quarter." Virdent didn't know why he decided to give the order, just something in his gut telling him that doing so was the right decision.

"Cutting speed by one quarter." The helmsman replied without pause and immediately cut the ships speed down by the designated amount.

" Ops, give me a full radar scan; full spectrum. Helm, standby with emergency thrusters." More and more his gut was telling him that something was wrong and all he could do was prepare for it.

" Sir, message from lead ship _In the Air._ Captain Brownman is demanding a reason for us dropping out of formation and going to full scan." The comms operator had a stern look on her face. Virdent knew that Brownman didn't demand so nicely; not that Virdent could blame him.

Captain Brownman was a part of the younger generation of airship captains and held a deep seated hatred for those old warhorses that was holding up his promotion to a higher position. He was so blatently conceited that he already had a nice oak desk ready when he obtained Fleet Admiral. There was even rumors of him doing backroom deals in order to be put in charge of the expeditionary fleet. Anything to help boost his change for promotion.

Virdent broke out of his light daze as the comms officer repeated her statement. He could only let out a sigh as he turned to look at all the young officers under his command.

"Comms, tell the captain that I thought I saw something abnormal on the sensor array and had slowwed down to investigate." He knew that it was a blatent lie. He was following his gut instinct and not the sensors; too bad following ones gut isn't an excuse to break out of formation.

What happened next was unexpected though. Virdent could hear the bridge speakers pop on with a rustle of hard static and the main screen shot bright. He first turned to the comms operator to see if she had anything to do with it, but quickly realized by her look of confusion and horror that she was innocent.

The blank white screen then shifted to that of a display of a young man in a captains uniform standing on board of an airship bridge. Virdent didn't have to be told that it was Brownman but seeing him be so arrogant as to perform a bridge communications override on his ship was pissing him off. " Captain Brownman, so glad to be in your presence. So as to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Brownman was't at all pleased. Virdent could tell right off the bat that Brownman was furious at his decision to slow down. " Virdent, I don't know how they did it back in the ancient days but here we follow orders and stay in formation."

Virdent let him have a pause; not knowing if the other captain would continue on his rant. " I'm truely sorry sir. If you had received our last message; you would understand that we picked up a sensor anomoly. We had slowed down to investigate. There was no reason to trouble..."

Brownman cut him off. " Sensor anomoly my ass. You're just trying to find an excuse to disrupt this mission. Don't think that I will let this slide captain. When we get back to Atlas; I will personally let General Ironwood know about..."

The rest of the captains words were lost in static and out the forward viewport; a massive light ignited the night sky. Right behind it followed three more lights; no not lights, explosions. Virdent looked around the bridge to see all the young officers stunned in fear. He knew he had to act or they all were dead.

" Helm, activate emergency thrusters and begin evasive maneuvers." Nothing, the helmsman was locked in fear. " Helm, EMERGENCY THRUSTERS NOW!"

Virdents loud voice cut through all the alarms and shock and knocked the helmsman free of his paralysis. Without even responding back he hit the emergency thrusters and begain moving the ship in near erratic motion.

" Ops, tell me what the hell just happened to the other ships." Virdent was right; something did indeed happen. Now he just had to be smart enough to survive it and get some much needed payback.

The operations officer turned to Virdent with a pure ghost white expression on his face. " Sir, sensors are not picking up any residual heat signatures. I can't even tell you what direction that they were hit from."

What madness was this? How could someone not only have a weapon powerful enough to destroy multiple airships almost instantaneously but also not be able to leave any trace? Time was a luxury right now and against his own desire for vengence; he put that part of him away. " Helm, right rudder. We're getting the hell out of here. Comms, send an emergency message to both Beacon and Atlas. Tell them what happened and call for reinforcements. ALL HANDS BATTLE STATIONS."

" Sir, energy surge in the right engine. It's going critical." The rest of operations officers words fell deaf as the airship shuddered under the weight of a massive explosion. The bridge went alive with consoles and panels sparking and blowing up.

Virdent jumped from the captains dais and down to the operations officers station. He pulled the young officer off his console to see a burnt face with a piece of shrapnel embedded in his skull. A part of the captain wished that the young man met death quickly. Again he had to put his own feelings aside and do his duty to his crew. " Engineering, can you here me? How bad is it?"

A heavily static voice came over the ships speakers. " This is engineering. Right engine is completely gone. Central is about to go critical and left is down to half efficiency."

" Can you fix it?" Virdent already knew the answer but was hoping for a miracle.

" Half the engineering and emergency management crew is dead, including the engineering chief. There is nothing we can do." The young engineer had so much fear in his voice. He knew that they were dead.

" Listen to me. These will be the last orders you get. Dump everything from the central engine. Use what power we have left in the thrusters on the under right side to balance the ship as much as possible for as long as possible. After that is done; evacuate everyone you can to the life boats." What a long career Virdent has had. He had worked his whole life as a loyal soldier of the Atlas military. Even without huntsment training; he had fought and killed Grimm. He was so looking forward to retirement too. " Comms, send a message to Atlas. We are abandoning ship. Helmsman take over ops and activate the ship wide evacuation protocol... I still have one last thing to do."

Virdent sat at the helm; now in full control of his battered and broken ship. As captain, he was the only one allowed to do this last job...

'All I want is five more minutes...' That was the first thought that came through the young Ruby Roses mind. Always a late sleeper; being woken up before getting at least eight hours of sleep was just too much for her to handle. The violent motion wasn't helping either. Finally a hard blow went right across Rubys' cheek; forcing her awake. "What do you want?"

As she opened her eyes, she saw Weiss right in her face. " RUBY GET UP. HURRY, THE AIRSHIP IS GOING DOWN!"

What weariness left in the young huntress disappeared instantaneously. She shot up out of bed and saw that the other girls were quickly grabbing their weapons and a spare set of gear. None of them had bothered to change out of their sleep attire. Yang tossed her a bag and her folded up scythe before rushing towards the door. Yet the thought of going out in her pyjamas was too much for the young huntress. "What? I can't go out there dressed like this?"

" I don't like doing this anymore than you do Ruby." Weiss' sharp tongue was on point today and she definately wasn't putting up with Rubys' whining. Yet Ruby noticed Weiss say something low under her breathe. " At least you're wearing pants..."

All four girls stumbled out of their room and into the hallway to find the faunus soldiers all geared up and making their way towards the nearest escape ships. Ruby noticed that Jace was looking back towards the girls while grinning from ear to ear. 'He must be loving the look of us humans in our night cloths.'

As they made to the awaiting ships; they saw that Jace and Gideon had sent the rest of their team ahead while they waited for the girls of team RWBY. Gideon extended his hand towards the girls. " Come on girls. I don't think that this ship will last much longer."

Weiss was the first one to get to them and get escorted inside. " Why are you two waiting on us?"

" Back in our land there is a saying ' Last one out gets the lights.'" Both of the men laughed as they all got onto the ship. Yang instinctively took the controls of the ship and started lifting it off of the doomed airship.

Gideon got in the passenger seat right next to her and strapped in tightly. " Do you know how to fly this thing?"

" Fly? Yes. Land?.. Well we'll work that part out later..." Both let out a good chuckle as she cleared the doomed airship as another blast blew the ship first in half and then fully into pieces.

Someone knew how to take these ships down. Not only that but they knew exactly the destination and time that they would pass. One ship being destroyed would be impossible; five, well that means that they were set up. And there will be hell to pay to whoever was stupid enough to sell Gideon out...


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Land... Oh glorious dirt... How much did Weiss love the feel of dirt beneath her feet.

"Worst landing ever... of all time." Jace looked like he was going to puke up a lung by the way his face looked. Many of the other lucky passengers were also feeling a bit worse for ware.

" Hey my landing wasn't that bad..." Weiss turned the the golden haired girl who stood in front of an escape craft that was currently missing a wing, upside down, and was on fire. She could see Yang had a giant smile on her face while everyone else just looked on in pure contempt.

Gideon just glared at the crazed blonde girl as he contemplated on what he was going to say to her. Despite his massive desire to tell her off in his native faunus tongue; using words that were not to be used in mixed company; he held off just due to the fact that at the moment they were vulnerable. " Next time we have to abandon an aircraft; I'm flying."

Weiss could only look on in total frustration at Yang who seemed to be enjoying the fact that they were now stuck in the middle of nowhere with no food, water, or a way to call for help, and worst of all in their night cloths. Weiss already could feel the cold night wind blowing up her night gown and could tell by Blakes expression that she was having the same trouble with her yukata.

"Ok girls, gather your things. We're still about twenty miles from our destination and knowing my team; they should be waiting for us at the coordinates." Gideon looked towards Jace and they both nodded to each other. Weiss could tell that those two already knew what to expect and were already expecting the worse.

" Could you two give us a second to change. Will be kinda hard to get anywhere in our pjs." Weiss didn't know what was worse; being stuck outside in her night gown, having those two men see her in her night gown, or that they both were still in their uniforms.

Jace locked eyes with her and gave her a stoic look. " Sorry, we don't have time. Right now, whoever shot down those ships are going to be looking for survivors. And that burning ship right there is going to be a nice big beacon for them. We're more than likely outmanned and outgunned in this wilderness. So our best bet is to make as much distance as we can away from the ship until the sun lights up the sky."

" But but... we're in our pjs..." Weiss' eyes started to tear up as she hated the fact of having to walk across rugged terrain barefoot with just some light material protecting her from the elements.

Gideon turned to her coldly and stared daggers at her. " Just be glad your not naked. Keep that thought burning in your gut and you should be fine..."

"But but..." She could see that there was no more chance to protest as the two men led the other three girls forward. All she could think about was at least she wasn't the only one having to suffer such an indignity.

Oh the indignity... That was the only thing that was going through Furions mind. In front of him sat that freak Robin; the faunus born without an animal feature. The best he had was those pointy ears of his. Furion wondered why Robins' parents didn't just let the poor child die out in the wasteland; that would of been a merciful death. With his curse; all Robin could be was a weapon for whoever so chose to weild him. At the moment that weilder was their leader Ajani Nacatyl...

The only amazing think about Robin was that he had an unattainable mastery of dust and sand control. That young pup could do things with both that Furion thought was impossible. The latest shows of his strength was the destruction of those pale skinned mongrels airships. Not only was he able to him them from such distance but the destruction of four of them outright was quite impressive. The fifth one however was a challenge due to some amazing piloting skills by its crew; yet even that one eventually fell.

But a part of him felt hollow. Furion never cared for the efficiency of whole sale slaughter with one attack. He prefered a blood bath with him knowing when each and every person he killed; exactly died. To him this was too impersonal. His only consolation was that soon they would have the bracer and then he will get his hearts content of slaughter.

He could see Ajani step forward from the corner of his left eye and take his place at Robins side. " Good Robin. You have performed above and beyond any of our expectations yet again. When our new world is born; you shall have a seat among those that have always been your equals. And those who cast you low shall find themselves at your mercy."

Furion could only scoff lightly under his breath. Everyone knew that once Ajani took his place as the rightful ruler of this world; that Robin would be discarded just like the rest of the riff raff. Empty words belittled such a great man.

" Unfortunately boss the girl isn't dead yet." The voice came from behind Furion this time. Cold as ice and as empty as the emotions that were slain inside of him; Lestats' remark caught them all off guard. They had hoped that the cat eared faunus girl would of been in one of the lead ships. Lestat had marked her with a blood seal when he stabbed her out of caution when they first fought. He was always cautious when it came to his enemies; that was why he had survived some hellish fights.

Ajani turned to Lestat and growled deeply. " I thought you told me that you could track her with that seal of yours..." He snarled his words out more as a comment than a question.

Lestat just looked at him coldly and scoffed. " I can track them by the pull of the mark. But it's not like I can home in on it fully from this range. You're thinking of it as a bright light when you should be thinking of it as a ping in silence. Even under the best conditions; getting a complete read on her is nearly impossible from this kind of range."

Ajani could only glare at him with a burning hatred in his eye. All he wanted to do now was strangle the bat faunus and snap his neck like a twig. Out of all his pawns; Lestat continued to be the most painful.

" If she's still alive then we should give chase now. They are right now confused and quite vulnerable to attack. We must end this quickly cause we don't know when their reinforcements will arrive." Syllabear was always the most level headed one of the group and kept the other members from kiliing each other on more than one occassion. " Now Lestat. Can you give us a good starting location for her?"

Furion just couldn't help but grin at how with just a few words; Sylla had them all working together again. With a much needed breather; they were off again to track their ill fated prey.

She hated the dirt. It was cold and rought and right now here feet were covered in it. Then there was the whole stepping on leaves, twigs, and rocks. She missed wearing shoes. To make matters worse was that her legs were freezing cold and had that cold burn you get when you hold a piece of ice to your skin for a long period of time.

This march of theirs' had taken them deeper and deeper into the woods; following the coordinates to the meeting point. Weiss couldn't even tell how long they have walked; had it been one mile or one hundred. All she wanted right now was a nice warm bath, hot food, and a nice comfy bed.

What seemed to be hours passed as finally Gideon raised up his hand and caused them to stop. He signalled a hand gesture to Jace who immediately went towards a rock formation with guns drawn. Everyone kept their eyes focused on the formation while gripping their weapons tightly.

Eventually a form came out of the formation and walked back towards them. Gideon let his guard down as he recognized the man as one of his soldiers. They both exchanged softened greetings before this new man escorted them to the formation.

As Weiss stepped into the formation; she noticed that it was more than just an ordinary formation but also an entrance to a cavern. Wow, what a cave too. Even from the entrance Weiss could see that the cavern expanse was massive. The chiselled stairs she could tell were hand crafted but everything else seemed to be that of nature.

"Wow, just... wow." Weiss took in the amazing view. Even though she had spent more than her fair share in her companies mines getting taught how to manage; seeing an untouched cavern such as this was still quite a sight.

Jace turned towards the girls with a devilish smile on his face. " Well girls; let me be the first to welcome you to our passage way home; welcome to Wyrmwood."

"Niiiiicccccceeeee... but right now I could go for a hot shower, food, and to put on cloths other than my pjs." Weiss had been called ice princess more times than she would care to admit, but right now all she wanted to do was get warm and stab anyone who dared threaten to call her that; repeatedly.

Both of the men looked at each other than back at Weiss with a blank look of surprise on their faces. Since the unfortunate meeting of these young girls; they had to deal with so much um 'uniqueness' of their character. Neither men could tell how such whiny, self absorbed girls could ever call themselves soldiers. No not soldiers; huntresses.

'What a stupid title for a stupid, short sighted race.' That was the first thought that came through Gideons' mind the first time he heard about these huntresses and huntsmen. They spent so much time training to defeat the Grimm; yet let their skills at solo combat suffer. If it wasn't for Jaces' hardwired belief that there was stregnth in diversity; then he would of just cut off the girls arm at the museum and be done with it.

Right now they were so divergent from their mission parameters that the entire mission had already gone six ways from sideways. Deep down he knew that this whole mission was going to go tits up and he would be stuck cleaning up the mess... again.

Even as he watched Jace escort them to a secluded alcove to change; all Gideon could think of was how this mission had already jumped the shark. Their mission was simple; go grab the artifact Titanias Bracer. He was given a higher than normal number of soldiers due to the fact that Ajanis' team was likely going to appear to take the bracer as well. Then there was all those humans with their superiority complex.

Finally it had to be their weapons that he couldn't stand. Seriously, who would build a death scythe that was also a high powered rifle. That weapon has so many design flaws and weak points that with a perfectly times blow to any of the exposed joints and that weapon will become useless.

Then there was the shotgun gauntlets that the big chested, bimbo blonde used. Only a blonde would think that it was a good idea to put multiple highly explosive rounds right on her arms. It's like she saying 'Please sir, pierce one of these shells with an electrically charged tip so I can then live as the girl with no arms.' Gideon mused at the fact that her brain was getting blood deprived due to her giant chest requiring so much attention. Like seriously, that rack just seems to ignore gravities pull.

Let's not even get started with the albino with her toothpick sword. The design itself wasn't that bad but the fact that you couldn't slash effectively with it was such a waste. There was just so many Grimm out there that you can't just poke at. Not to mention the Devourers; she would never be able to pull that toothpick out of one.

At least the domesticated girl knows how to build a decent blade. The only down side is the pistol handle. But that just goes to show that faunus have always been the better weapon builders.

This was one of the few times in a long time that Ruby was actually glad to be out of her pjs and into her combat skirt. As she looked around; she noticed the rest of her team finally slipping out of their own sleep garments and back into more combat centric clothing. Then something caught her eye; Weiss was putting on some off white over frost blue colored pants with a black belt with a silver snowflake as the buckle. She then tossed on a platinum colored tank top with a greyish colored jacket. She finished off with grey combat boots.

Both Yang and Blake also noticed Weiss' changed attire with Yang grinning profusely. " So Weiss, didn't know you were getting rid of your use of a combat skirt."

Weiss turned sharply towards the three girls with her face flushed red. Having all three girls watch her change had really gotten her nervous. " I... I... Didn't any of you listen to the briefing before we left. About half the landscape there is sand; and not the type of usable Sand either. I would rather not have my skin damaged by sand filled wind current; thank you very much."

Now it was the other girls' turn to look foolish. Both Ruby and Blake were putting on their stockings; which would probably get torn if they faced any heavy sand winds while Yang had no protection for her exposed legs. Weiss as usual was always thinking ahead.

" You girls almost done in there? Not to rush you but we need to get going asap." There was no mistaking Jaces' upbeat voice. Out of all the men there; he was the most upbeat. The others just seemed to be going through the motions.

Ruby looked around and made sure that all of them were dressed and presentable before replying. " Yep we're done."

The girls walked out of the alcove and back to the main part of the tunnel where all of the men stood. In total only three of Gideons' men survived their ride down while the others along with the Altesian soldiers all unfortunately died.

' There it was again.' Ruby told herself as she looked upon Gideons' face. He had that look of utter disgust on him since the day that they decided on taking Blake back to their capitol city to get that bracer off. Something about the look just unnerved her though. She thought this way due to the fact that in the end everyone was going to get what they wanted. Blake was going to be free from the bracer and get to see a kingdom ruled by faunus and that same kingdom will have that bracer for safe keeping. Everyone wins. So why does she feel like there is more going on then what is on the surface.

Who ever thought calling these the Wyrmwood tunnels must had been a sadist. Yang didn't know what was worse; the cold of the tunnels or the fact that they had been walking for what seemed like hours without knowing where the hell they were.

Finally a light broke at the end of the tunnel to a massive cavern. Multiple paths merged and diverged from one another into multiple routes leading to lord knows where. She just wanted to get out of here and back to open air. Unfortunately, when they got to the middle of open aired path; Gideon signaled them to stop.

A familiar voice echoed through the cavern and sent a tinge of fear down Yangs' spine. " Welcome, Gideon. Welcome to your deaths..."

From about them on a different path stood five faunus males; looking down on them with sadistic glee. In the middle of them stood the mirrior opposite of Gideon; his twin brother Ajani. " Now let's finish what we started at that museum..."


End file.
